Complete guide on how to fight a cold outlines the best home remedies and strategies to get rid of it fast, and which medications don’t work.
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Adults are hit by colds two to four times a year on average, and children even more often. A cold is very annoying and you want to get it over with as quickly as possible. The sections below will outline how to fight cold symptoms and recover faster.
CONTENTS
How to fight a cold: how long does a cold last?
Cold incubation period
How contagious is a cold?
How to fight a cold with home remedies
How to fight a cold with medication
How to prevent a cold
Nobody has to suffer unnecessarily, because cold symptoms can be alleviated quite well. Those plagued by a sore throat, runny nose and cough can therefore have a positive influence on the course of their flu-like infection. Here’s which home remedies and cold remedies are helpful in how to fight a cold, working to control your symptoms so you can feel better faster.
WARNING: Severe sore throats that do not go away can indicate inflammation of the tonsils (tonsillitis). A doctor can assess whether treatment is needed.
How to fight a cold: how long does a cold last?
In adults, a flu infection lasts seven to ten days. In children, the common cold can drag on a little longer and sometimes last more than two weeks. Sometimes one infection already overlaps with the next and parents cannot tell whether their child is sick again or still.
Small children have eight to twelve infections a year. This is completely normal and takes the first few years of life until the immune system is confronted with enough germs and gradually becomes stronger. The duration of the cold also depends on how far the viruses have penetrated into the body. If they remain in the mucous membranes of the nose and throat, the infection will pass faster than if the pathogens penetrate deeper into the body.
Cold incubation period
Colds have a relatively short incubation period. This is the period from infection to the outbreak of the infection. Once the virus has penetrated the body, it takes between two to eight days for the flu-like infection to break out. Those affected do not have any symptoms during the incubation period. However, they can already transmit the viruses. Pathogens can be found in nasal secretions and saliva around twelve hours after being infected.
How contagious is a cold?
The duration of infection varies. That depends on both the type of virus and the intensity of the infection. As a rule of thumb, however, the following can be said: the more severe the symptoms, the greater the risk of infection. The mucus produced by the cold is particularly infectious. This is where most of the viruses are. It is therefore best to sneeze into the crook of your arm, wash your hands after blowing your nose and throw away tissues so that the pathogens cannot spread so easily. Cold viruses can survive for several hours on the skin and on objects such as door handles. Regular, thorough hand washing is therefore very important.
How to fight a cold with home remedies
The following remedies have proven effective for how to fight a cold, and can be used to alleviate the symptoms and promote healing:
Lots of fluids
It is particularly important to drink enough fluids if you have a cold. In addition to water and vitamin-rich juices, a wide variety of teas are recommended, such as linden blossom or chamomile tea, which have an expectorant effect against the cold. Our insider tip, ginger tea with lemon and honey, soothes the irritated throat and supplies the body with vitamin C.
Recipe: ginger tea with fresh lemon and honey
Ingredients: hot water, 5–6 slices of ginger, ½ untreated lemon, 1–2 tablespoons of honey
1. Wash the ginger, peel and cut into slices. Also cut the lemon into slices.
2. Put the ginger and lemon in a teapot and pour hot water over them.
3. Let the tea steep for about 10 minutes.
4. Add 1–2 tablespoons of honey as you like – stir – done!
Homemade chicken soup
A strong chicken soup has also proven itself as a home remedy, because chicken meat contains a lot of zinc and the vegetables provide many vitamins. The soup also helps to meet the increased fluid requirements.
Our tip: Season the chicken soup with ginger, garlic and a little lemon juice for an even better effect.
Sufficient rest and sleep
In order to cure the cold, you should take a break and relax in the stressful everyday life. Lots of rest and sleep promote the healing process.
Fresh air
If you feel fit enough, a walk can be very beneficial. Deep breathing in and out of the fresh air moisturizes the mucous membranes and lets you breathe better again.
Nasal rinsing
Nasal rinses are an efficient home remedy for colds when you have a cold , as they loosen the nasal mucus and flush out germs. Simply stir half a teaspoon of sea salt into a quarter of a liter of lukewarm water and pour the salt water into the nasal douche. Then use the device to run the salt solution through your nose and shortly afterwards you should be able to breathe better again.
Nasal sprays
As an alternative to nasal rinses, nasal sprays with sea salt are available in the drugstore. Without chemical additives, the sea salt nasal spray is also suitable for use over a longer period of time.
Warm neck wraps
Warm neck wraps have also proven useful as home remedies for a cold . Soak a cotton cloth in hot water and wring it out so that it no longer drips but is still wet. Under no circumstances should the temperature exceed 40 degrees, otherwise there is a risk of burns. Wrap the cloth around your neck and attach a towel over it. Feel free to rest in bed for a while with the wrap before drying off.
Inhalations
Inhalation with warm vapors : A steam bath can also help to transport the excess mucus out of the nose. Pour hot – not boiling – water into a bowl, bend directly over it and cover your head and the vessel with a towel. Breathe in and out normally. After about ten minutes, you end the steam bath and can breathe more freely. Repeat this two times a day.
Our tip: You can also add a few drops of peppermint or tea tree oil or dried chamomile flowers to the hot water.
The blocked nose and inflamed sinuses can be freed and moistened by inhaling water vapor with additives. Overhead steam baths or inhalation with inhalation devices are suitable for this. You can use essential oils from eucalyptus, mountain pine, or spruce. Herbs such as sage, chamomile or hay flowers are also suitable. You can also find cold oil or balm in stores, which are intended for rubbing on the chest and back as well as for dissolving in hot water and inhaling. Put the additives in a bowl of boiling water and let it cool to about 50 degrees. Then hang a towel over your head and slowly inhale the rising steam through your mouth and nose for about five minutes.
Gargling
With a higher dosage, salt water is very suitable for gargling. This can be used to fight a sore throat, because the salt works against viruses and bacteria in the throat.
Tea
Tea infusions based on anise, fennel, eucalyptus and ivy are good for relieving cold symptoms. Thyme and sage are especially helpful against sore throats. You can gargle these infusions lukewarm – they have an anti-inflammatory effect and can kill germs. Commercially available cold teas with a mixture of herbs are also suitable. Even finely chopped ginger infused with boiling water works well against a sore throat. Studies have shown that the hot substances contained in the root have anti-inflammatory, expectorant and analgesic effects. Ginger also strengthens the voice.
Take a bath
A bath only makes sense if you don’t already have a fever. In that case, additional heat puts additional strain on the organism. Bath additives such as oils based on menthol, eucalyptus, camphor, spruce or pine needles improve blood circulation and clear the airways.
Caution: Essential oils should be avoided in children under two years of age because cramps, shortness of breath and even respiratory failure can occur. Camphor, in particular, has to be kept out of the reach of children because, if ingested in large quantities, it can cause severe nerve damage, among other things. Essential oils are also not tolerated by all adults. When symptoms such as coughing or shortness of breath occur, your mucous membranes become too irritated. Then do without essential oils. This also applies to allergy sufferers and asthmatics.
The bath should not be too hot, but should correspond to your body temperature – 35 to 38 degrees are ideal. You can do the baths several times a week for around 15 minutes.
And try the good old chicken soup . It is a helpful companion for cold infections.
Not a home remedy, but absolutely essential: take care of yourself. Calm and warmth are most important now. This is especially true for children. Two to three days of bed rest help ensure that the infection can be cured properly.
How to fight a cold with medication
There is no such thing as a cold or flu medicine that will make you healthy. Only the body can do that. Preparations from pharmacies that are declared as cold remedies can neither eliminate nor shorten the infection. These are demonstrably empty promises made by the manufacturers of such drugs.
You should especially avoid combination preparations. They often contain various active ingredients that you don’t all need, but which put unnecessary strain on your body because there are too many or the combination is not suitable. In the case of a cold, cough, headache or aching limbs, it makes more sense to take the active ingredients individually and thus specifically for each symptom.
Nasal sprays
Decongestant nasal sprays are suitable so that you can breathe better through your nose, especially when sleeping. However, these must not be used for too long because there is a risk of addiction. You can also use the lower-dose nasal sprays for children – they also work, but are less aggressive on the mucous membranes.
The pressure on the ears, which one sometimes has during a cold infection, is also usually reduced by nasal drops that reduce swelling. Such nasal sprays are also useful in the event of an otitis media in order to keep the connection between nose and ears free. Salt-based nasal sprays are suitable for moistening the dried out mucous membranes.
Cough medicines
Coughing comes and goes with common cold infections usually by itself. However, sugar-free cough drops help to increase the flow of saliva and moisten the dry throat. The body’s own substances that fight pathogens are found in saliva.
The effectiveness of pentoxyverine and dropropizine cough suppressants has not been sufficiently proven. The cough suppressant effect of dextromethorphan, however, has been well documented. Means with this active ingredient are therefore suitable for a dry, irritating cough without sputum for a short time in the evening before going to bed.
There is also insufficient evidence for so-called cough removers that loosen the phlegm. The study situation on these funds is therefore inconsistent. It has not yet been sufficiently proven that coughs actually go away faster with the preparations than without them. This could most likely still apply to the active ingredient acetylcysteine. If the cough does not resolve itself for more than four to five days with the means, the experts advise to see a doctor.
Painkillers
Pharmacy-only preparations with active ingredients such as aspirin, paracetamol, ibuprofen and diclofenac help with headaches and body aches. All four active ingredients also lower fever. You can take the tablets for a short period of time over a few days according to the package insert. However, prolonged use of such agents puts a strain on your organs. You can only use these remedies briefly without consulting a doctor. Asthmatics can react to ASA with an asthma attack and should therefore also consult a doctor if they have no experience with the active ingredient.
Ointments and salves
Ointments with essential oils for rubbing the chest can have a liberating effect on the breathing.
How to prevent a cold
Cold viruses attack our respiratory tract. There are around 200 different ones. We transmit the pathogens through droplet infection when sneezing or coughing and through skin contact. In this respect, regular hand washing several times a day is an effective strategy to reduce the number of viruses. To do this, you should wash your hands thoroughly with soap for around 30 seconds, including between your fingers, and then dry them well. Disinfectants are not necessary.
On the other hand, reduce the amount of handshakes. Also, try to avoid touching your face as little as possible, as this allows viruses and bacteria on your hands to enter your body through the mucous membranes of your eyes, nose and mouth.
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You can strengthen your immune system and adapt your body to temperature fluctuations by taking regular alternating showers (always cold at the end), going to the sauna or doing Kneipp therapy. In addition, exercise in the fresh air makes sense because it stimulates the circulation and metabolism, you get enough oxygen and your body gets used to different and cold temperatures. It is also important to mitigate the effect of dry heating air in closed rooms. Occasionally put wet towels on the radiators and ventilate them twice a day.
Good to know: Intensive sniffing of your nose can accidentally force secretions into your sinuses. Sometimes the viruses and bacteria contained in the mucus settle there again. In addition, the pressure that some people exert on the blood vessels when blowing their nose loudly is sometimes too strong, which can lead to nosebleeds.
